First, thanks to everybody for participating. Everyone has shown me something I liked, even on the ones that ranked lowest or even when it sounds like I'm nitpicking. I wouldn't mind buying any of these albums for my collection. Some of them I think are growers, but after multiple listens just didn't rank high enough to continue. To the bottom 4: thanks for playing, and in one instance making me a little more open minded about an artist I wasn't particularly keen on listening to. To the other 10: you have 48 hours to send your next album. Remember, no themes, only tasty music.
This was a
lot of work to type up and format it properly so I really hope everything is where it should be and looks good.
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1. IQ - The Road of Bonessent by Evermind2014; progressive rock/metal
I've heard of IQ for years and I'm kicking myself now for never checking them out. I was very happy listening to this album. The softness, the lack of heavy songwriting, it was simply mesmerizing. The best moments on this album are when it is as soft and unintrusive as possible, but even the heavier and upbeat moments are breathtaking. With the really long tracks, I always hoped they'd keep going. I never wanted them to end. I'm convinced everybody has some albums that just resonate with them on a deeper level, and that is what this album is for me. I love every single thing about this, from the fantastic vocals ("and when I throw my weight around" and "as I walk the road of bones" just won't get out of my head) to the shimmering synths and everything in between. Lovely keyboard work, the title track is just perfect in every way with its spacey nature. I love that this band takes its time and is never in a hurry just to get to a heavy riff section. The last track actually brought tears to my eyes. This is a true work of art and I am so happy to have been introduced to this. I did not listen to the second disc because it was the length of another album, but I absolutely will when the roulette is over.
9.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: The Road of Bones, Without Walls, Until The End
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2. Mystery - The World Is A Gamesent by jingle.boy2012; progressive rock
This is, in a word, enchanting. There's a cool atmosphere to the entire record, and this is the kind of prog rock I enjoy. It has its odd meters and cool instrumental parts, but it's not unnecessarily complex or busy. It's got groove, sense of melody, emotional lyrics and singing - I can't think of anything I dislike about this record. This is what Rush would've continued to sound like if they had continued down the Hemispheres path, I think. I never found myself checking the time or being anxious for it to end, even in the 19 minute epic "Another Day" - I just wanted this album to continue playing. What I really enjoy is that the singing - his voice, the lyrics, the melodies - really speaks to me. When he shouts out, "Pride / How does it feel to cry? / How does it feel to have to hide?" it hits my heart. This is taking 3 parts Rush and blending it with 1 parts Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, and Marillion. The 'fogeys' know their music. Spellbound from start to finish - I was actually happier after listening to this magical album. Jingle came out guns blazing and hit every mark with this one.
9.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Pride; Dear Someone; The World Is A Game
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3. Sieges Even - The Art of Navigating by the Starssent by Puppies_On_Acid2005; progressive metal
Oh, now this was a fun one. You know what I like about prog metal? These guys. There's always room for the bass to pop in, which adds so much to a song and I love it. There isn't much in the way of sludgy, super low guitar riffs, either - it's always doing something interesting in terms of keeping melody or playing a melodic riff, I really enjoy that. I hear some Yes influence hear and there, although I don't listen to Yes - the 'doo doos' in particular. I really enjoy the singer's voice, it's kind of midrange but has this smooth quality that complements the vibe of the music they're playing. I don't feel weighed down by this music and I love it, it's almost carefree at times and I feel like I can see the members having fun with it, like the middle section of Stigmata. There's a wise choice in planting that track in the middle of the album because to me it's the most fun song on the album and it helped with the album's flow. Blue Wide Open has some gorgeous guitars, lovely Spanish guitar style in there. Another band I've heard few people talk about. Perhaps I've been in the wrong corners of the Internet my whole life. Simply put, it's solid prog metal (rock?) that doesn't bash you over the head letting you know they're good at their instrument or genre. It was actually fun and interesting and every time I've finished it I wanted to go back and play it again, which is good because this still demands more spins to digest it all.
9.0/10FAVORITE TRACKS: The Weight; Stigmata; Blue Wide Open
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4. Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Placessent by Parama2012; progressive rock
I fully expected to hate this, and instead I fell in love with it. I've never heard anything quite like this before. It's wild and fresh. The first track mislead me with a soothing choir arrangement, but then it does a 180. The peppy guitars, the horns, the incredibly... odd? voice of the singer, I initially did detest this. But there was something about it that grew on me. The singer's voice, in a normal rock/metal context, would annoy the hell out of me. In this music, though, this strangely upbeat but kind of heavy music but with horns, it somehow works. He even sounds tough sometimes, but the songs never sound angry or sad. I have no idea if this is prog or something else, but whatever it is, I can't get it out of my head. There's a crazy, positive vibe to these songs and lots of modern flourishes. It's such a welcome change from the typical gloomy, heavy vibe that permeates so much prog music I've heard. I didn't get bored with this album at all, and I crave more like it. It's simultaneously simpler but stranger than almost anything else in this round without sounding contrived.
8.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: A Salesman's Guide to Non-Existence; Suspicious Waveforms; My Famed Disappearing Act
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5. Riverside - Anno Domini High Definitionsent by Tomislav952009; progressive metal
First, this gets closer to the sweet spot with prog metal for me. I'm a little tired of hour-long (or more) albums, and this is only 44 minutes, that really does make a difference. The whole thing makes me think of Tool meets Katatonia meets Steven Wilson meets... something else? The section around 3:00 in Egoist Hedonist sounds like game show metal, which isn't good or bad, just a funny observation. The synth work on this album is absolutely delightful and adds to the trippy atmosphere of this album. The overall vibe makes me think of Katatonia on psychedelics. I feel grimy listening to parts of this. I don't expect anybody else to relate to this, but it makes me feel grimy in the sense of an acid trip, and by that I mean I know I'm clean and there's nothing to worry about, but the music seems to permeate my soul and make me feel... heady. That's the word, heady. The synth leads are gorgeous and have this bite to them that thickens up the already aggressive guitars. I enjoyed this a lot more than Second Life Syndrome because it's more concise, trippier, and uses some really cool rhythms and scales. It's less doom and gloom than Second Life Syndrome, yet somehow darker in ways I just can't properly put into words. The last song is really, really freaking good, I can't get enough of that. There are almost Ayreon-like vibes with the synth work; it reminds me of preset patch rhythms on my old MicroKorg that tend to pop up in Ayreon's music. This one got better with each replay. This is the side of Riverside I greatly enjoy. The way the album begins is one of my favorite beginnings of any of the submissions this round.
8.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Hyperactive, Egoist Hedonist, Hybrid Times
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6. Fair To Midland - Fables From A Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is Truesent by home2007; progressive rock(?)
Oh, this is a cool album. From the get-go it has this cool air, a kind of groove that I can get down with. I like the keys - since I can play, I can see in my head the keyboardist's hands dancing in patterns I enjoy playing, and the vocalist has this amazing ability to do all sorts of different styles, plus he has a respectable range which I find impressive. I dig a lot of the melodic choices made on this album a lot. There's just something inherently captivating about the songwriting, it speaks to me. There's a really chill, upbeat atmosphere over the whole album. I enjoyed that because again, it's a break from the typically gloomy atmosphere a lot of prog metal tends to have (this is a very big sticking point for me). At times it reminds me of Thank You Scientist in that way, but not as wacky, and with its own identity. I'm huge on vocalists and again, this guy adds so much to help the songs stand out from other bands. This one helped one work day in particular go by quickly this week, and I've found it super fun to play at the gym. I'm keeping my eye on this band for future listening excursions, because I really enjoyed this record.
8.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Dance of the Manatee; The Wife, the Kids, and the White Picket Fence; Walls of Jericho
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7. Rainbow - Risingsent by Stadler300 B.C. 1976; hard rock/heavy metal
What can I say about this that hasn't been said for the last 40 years? I've always wanted to check out Rainbow but for some reason just never did. This is something else, though. Hooked immediately with that kickass synth solo at the start of Tarot Woman. The production added some strangely charming quality to this album; once I cranked it loudly, I could hear very subtle details in the playing of each instrument, and it sounds so real. This is the one I cranked so loudly I feared the neighbors calling the cops. Something about how straightforward the whole album is gets to me. It doesn't need a thousand layers. It doesn't have to do a whole lot of revolutionary songwriting. There are a couple songs here that are, frankly, by the numbers, but they're done so well with so much conviction that I found myself singing along after the first listen, it stuck on my brain that much. Best of all, it's only 33 minutes. Even Stargazer is just as long as it needs to be, and let me tell you, finally playing that on some quality speakers as opposed to FM radio was a fun experience. Dio is considered the godfather of power metal and for good reason: I regret not hearing this album when I was younger. Fun fact, so far this is the only one I have bought. I found a copy of this at the record store yesterday, snatched it up, and cranked the bastard all the way down the highway home. No filler, no over the top bullshit, just rock and f'ing roll, like it should be!
8.5/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Tarot Woman, Do You Close Your Eyes, Stargazer
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8. Snarky Puppy - Family Dinner, Vol. 1sent by Sacul2013; jazz fusion
I was really hoping to get something completely different when I started the roulette, and this fits the bill. Brilliant pick out of left field from Sacul. Jazz? Fusion? A bunch of other stuff? This is a musical smorgasbord. And it's live! I hardly believed it at first. I want to compare this with a studio album of theirs, because they are super tight live from the sound of this album. The singing is so good, though, it has to be the star of this album. Amour T'es La and I'm Not The One in particular got my attention. I've been trying to branch out of rock and metal for a long time and this is another great example of stuff I dig big time. This was actually the last album I listened to in this round, but it quickly became one of the better ones. The only reason it doesn't score higher is because it isn't a studio album and the writing credits on Spotify show them going to a bunch of different people, so I'm kind of in the dark on who wrote the songs, who's actually in the group, and what they sound like in the studio. But honestly, this is superb coming right out of left field.
8.0/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Amour Te's La, Turned Away, I'm Not The One
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9. Myrath - Legacysent by ariich2016; progressive metal
At first, this album didn't click with me. The first half is good, but the second half is where it really shines. This is a great one. The back half is loaded with some real killer tunes, this is some epic prog-power metal without trying to do too much all the time. I really, really like the singer, because he elevates the band: he has just the right amount of power and emotion when it's called for, and his melismas - singing the same syllable across many notes - remind me of Orphaned Land, in a good way. Wasn't expecting several things like the brief electronic moments or the jaunty piano on Endure the Silence, but those were really cool to hear. There's variety, but not so much that it's overwhelming. Huge songs, sincere music. I spun this three times, and it demands more, so I'll be returning to this for sure in the future. There's little if any filler, maybe it could've been a couple songs shorter at most. Always end your album with a strong song, because I wanted to replay this as soon as it ended - Other Side is a fantastic closer and a good summary of what this album is like in my opinion.
8.0/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Believer, I Want To Die, Other Side
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10. Riverside - Second Life Syndromesent by Lethean2005; progressive metal
Do these guys know what happiness is? This is a very gloomy, depressing record, from the very beginning with the miserable spoken words. This has some kind of energy to it I'm finding hard to describe. It's like Katatonia with Steven Wilson but not quite either of them. The singer is bland and is my least favorite part of this album because he just sounds like he doesn't want to be there, like he's not interested. Jonas Renske Syndrome, I jokingly call it. That said, I really dig the way he transitions smoothly from clean singing into angry shouting, he does that well. Other than the singer, this album rocks. It has this energetic but serene vibe, like Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson making musical magic together. I like how there are times when the guitars are simply allowed to breathe, like at the start of Second Life Syndrome. Several moments remind me of Tool, like (again) in the title track about 10 minutes in. When the riffs get heavy, I kind of lose interest, but they pull me back in sometimes with great synth work (Reality Dream III for example). This album is way too long and a little too bleak, but I've enjoyed it more with each repeat listen, so perhaps my quibbles with the singer will subside in the future. Lots of moments on this album I enjoy, but I wish they had trimmed the fat. It's way too long for something this bleak, but when it slows down (I wish all of Dance with the Shadows was like its beginning), it is something beautiful. (I initially said this reminded me of Tool, but on repeat listens, I could hear more differences.)
8.0/10FAVORITE TRACKS: Conceiving You; Second Life Syndrome; Reality Dream III
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Topic: Kattelox's Album Roulette - Party Time! Excellent! v. FIN (Read 105428 times)
